Hitler's public relations manager, Goebbels, once said, 'If you repeat a lie often enough, it becomes the truth..' Looks like that is what Umno has been doing ever since Mahathir a/l Mohamed came into power. This has spawned a new generation of Malaysians who do not know their own history
Once again our government had to wipe out any references to a famous Melaka prince as being Hindu and belonging to the powerful Hindu empire Sri Vijaya. So all of a sudden our museums, school text-books etc. all refer to Parameswara as a Malay prince.
What race ruled or did not rule is besides the point. What is important is not butchering history to create your own truths. You cannot change your race even if you convert - Parameswara could have been responsible for Umno's stupid and false sense of heritage through 'Ketuanan Melayu'. If this is what it is based on, there is no 'Ketuanan Melayu' because the lineage of Melaka Sultans are Indians, not Malays. It is no secret that Parameswara was an Indian and a Hindu prince. It is clear from records that Parameswara never converted to Islam. He was an Indian Hindu who fled Palembang in Sumatra to eventually found Melaka circa 1400 AD and start the entire Malaysian royalty. Malaysia's royalty was and is of Hindu/India origin. On the other hand it was Sri Maharaja who converted himself and the court of Melaka to Islam, and as a result took on the name of Sultan Muhammad Shah sometime after 1435.
The most famous of Indian Hindu Kings were Rajaraja Chola and his son Rajendra Chola who invaded Southern Thailand, Kedah, Perak, Johor and Sumatra about 1000 AD. This is Raja-raja Chola - the Indian/Hindu kings and not Raja Chulan - a Malay king.
But what is really sad is that our children are taught as though Malaysian history suddenly began in 1400 with an Islamic Melaka. Even the Malays themselves are being cheated by UMNO into believing that everything started around 1400. We are also led to believe that the Indians and Chinese first arrived on the shores of Malaysia only in around 1850 as desperate indentured labourers, farmers and miners. Nothing could be further from the truth.
The cultural influences of India in particular, and China, in South East Asia span over 2,000 years, starting perhaps with the arrival from India of the Brahmanical prince/scholar - Aji Saka in Java in AD78, through to Vietnam, Cambodia (Indo China), Thailand, Burma, Indonesia, Bali, Borneo, Brunei and beyond. Malay culture is Indian culture. In fact the whole of South East Asian culture is Indian culture.
The findings at Bujang Valley speak of an ancient Indian/Hindu presence in Kedah.. There were Chinese settlements in Pahang and Kelantan around the 13th -14th century and in 12th century in Singapore... The early Brunei Sultanate had a Chinese Queen. One need not ponder at length the implications of Angkor Wat and Borobudur or that 40%-50% of Bahasa Malaysia comprises Sanskrit/Tamil words . But ALL of these are hidden away from the rakyat inc the Malays themselves so the Malays in particular grow up with limited knowledge of their own country and heritage
To illustrate, some of these words are:
bumi = boomi
putra = putran
raja = rajah
desa = thesam
syakti = sakthi
kolam = kulam
bahaya = abahya
jaya = jeya
maha = maha
aneka = aneha
nadi = naadi
kedai = kadai
mahligai = maaligai
mantra = manthrum
menteri = manteri
Suka = Sukha
Duka = Dhukkha
Manusia=Mannusa
etc etc
(This list can go on and it is true because Tamil and Sanskrit are about 5, 000 years old)
An extremely important archeological find that pointed to one of the greatest empires in history - the Raja Cholan empire that ruled from the Maldives through India, Sri Lanka and right down to South East Asia found deep in the jungles of Johor a few years ago and made headlines in the mainstream newspapers in 2005, suddenly disappeared from the news…..
The time has arrived for us to record our history as the facts tell us and not as we would like to wish it for. The truth will never hurt anyone. Lies, always will.
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